Ottawa Biz Journal suspends print publication amid pandemic

Ottawa Business Journal publisher Michael Curran writes about why the business magazine is suspending its print publication.

Curran writes, “First, our printer has suspended its operations to protect the health of its employees. Second, OBJ’s distribution model is largely dependent on direct delivery to offices, most of which are now closed. Third, OBJ is keeping the best interests of its delivery team top of mind. They, like the rest of us, must abide by public health recommendations to stay sheltered at home.

“Although this is disruptive, it’s not bad news.

“OBJ has large digital channels that reach more than 100,000 readers per month. OBJ has spent the better part of 20 years building an online readership.

“For April, OBJ will produce a digital edition (an online replica of a printed publication) and aggressively promote this flipbook through digital channels. Appropriately, the digital edition is themed as a COVID-19 business survival guide. It will certainly find an audience.”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.